A New Life to Live
by darkphoneix
Summary: Drawn into the world of Nox by forces beyond their comprehension, see just how well Ranma and Nabiki cope with life.
1. A New Life to Live Prologue

A New Life to Live: Prologue  
  
"Ranma, get your ass back here!" Genma's shout was even farther off than it had last been. Ranma knew that he would eventually slow down and let his father catch up, then they would have a fight and as always the fat man would lose, but for now he enjoyed the simple pleasure of running his good for nothing father ragged.  
  
The day bright and sunny, the clear blue sky free of clouds, and the city teemed with people out basking in the day's splendor. Ranma sprinted through a park full of little children and their parents, leapt across a four lane wide street that teemed with cars of all make and model, and was about to leap across another street when he heard a loud scream and the sound of breaking glass and screeching breaks. He grabbed a lamp post and spun around it a couple times to kill his momentum, and ran around the corner to inspect the accident that must have just taken place.  
  
Indeed, an accident had taken place. In fact, it was still taking place. Ranma couldn't help but watch in shock as a taxi lost control and careened into a small blue car. The blue car had come to a stop after apparently hitting a short haired girl in a school uniform. Ranma could see whether or not the girl was dead, but the taxi had almost drove the blue car over the girl's unmoving body.  
  
Ranma reacted without thinking. He was at the girl's side in less than a second. She was bleeding somewhere under her dress and there was a nasty gash on her forehead from which blood ran freely, but she was breathing, if barely. Gently as he could, Ranma gathered her up into his arms and bunched his legs to carry them both to the relative safety of the sidewalk. All this had happened in mere moments, from Ranma's coming around the corner, to his rescue of the injured girl.  
  
Unfortunately, Ranma's attention during those few precious moments was distracted from the world at large. He never saw the large tanker truck throw on breaks and flip over, and the sound was lost to him as adrenaline flowed rapidly through his veins. Ranma and his payload were not more than five feet off the ground when the fuel in the wrecked tanker ignited. The ball of fire was enormous and there was nothing Ranma could do as it engulfed him...but then it stopped.  
  
Not only had the fire stopped. Everything had stopped. The flaming cloud that was to be the end of Ranma floated just as unmovingly as the pigeon high overhead who had been disturbed from its nest by the commotion below.  
  
"He was meant for greater things that this pointless waste of life," a tall, elegant woman said as she stepped from within the shadow of a nearby building. Her glossy black hair billowed around her head in a non-existant wind like a halo.  
  
"Much greater," a man said as he followed her. He too had long black hair, but his pure white robe was the exact opposite of his companion's ket black.  
  
"He was to be my avatar, my represenative on earth," the woman said sadly."To think that the hardships I forced on him would come to such an end..." Tears glistened in her eyes sapphire eyes.  
  
"I know that his loss pains you Chaos, but there are other mortals to whom you may bestow your blessing," the man said soothingly.  
  
"Order, you know nothing of my loss," Chaos hissed."His soul was born from the Void, like those of the Gods. This boy, Ranma, he would have ascended, he would have been my mate, but now he is lost, beyond your's or my power."  
  
"Chaos, if what you say is indeed true, then it should be but a simple matter to reincarnate him. You can be grroming your new God once again within the hour."  
  
Chaos walked over to the stilled fire. With her delicate hand she scooped a mass of flame from the greater whole and held it before Order. With a simple breath she spread the flame into the air like a cloud of flour, the bright motes of light disappearing like dying fireflies."Like that flame, Ranma's soul will be no more when it is removed from its shell."  
  
"I fear that I am at a loss, Chaos." Order looked genuinely baffled.  
  
Chaos sighed."You are happy with your solitary existance, I am not. I've spent the last three eons scouring the universe in search of an answer to my problem. I found it on a long dead world at the edge of this galaxy. The gods of its dead inhabitants were not primal in nature, much like the lesser gods that inhabit earth, they relied on their worshippers for power and life. When the worshippers died, so too did the gods, but they left behind records, both the race of beings that inhabited that world and their gods. In their history, three mortals ascended to lesser godhood. All of them were of the Void. Three others of the Void died before they reached power. The gods tried to reincarnate these souls, but failed in every attempt. Would you like to know why?" Order nodded."The life's of Gods and men are of two differents paths. Men live closer to the rules of existance, they can be harmed, and they can die, but they can heal from a wound, and they can bring new life into the world. Gods are the life brought forth from the universe, the Great Souls, we have no means with which to reproduce ourselves, and our own omipotency means that we never suffer from injuries that require healing. Now picture a mortal, he lives his life, suffers his fair share of scrapes and bruises, and then he dies. His soul then free, is drawn to a soulless body and it lives again. A mortal such as Ranma, with his unripened God Soul, simply dies. His soul has no mechanism to inhabit another shell. So now do you see, Ranma is truly lost?" Tears streaked Chaos' face by the time she had finished.  
  
"Chaos, I admit that your knowledge in this field exceeds my own, but my own expertise may offer a soultion. It would not bring Ranma back to you, and he would never be your mate, but his body and soul would live own. He could even ascend to Godhood as you predict, it would be of no benefit to you or this world though."  
  
Hope set Chaos' eyes afire."What must be done, tell me," she demanded.  
  
"You froze time before Ranma could feel the wrath of the flame, he lives still, as does the girl. It would be beyond even our reach to attempt rescuing him from the flames once time resumes. It would, however, be of little consequence if he was no longer within the flame to meet with Fate."  
  
"Go on."  
  
"You could severe Ranma's ties to this plane of existance easily, and I could re-order his being to that of another plane, one close enough to our own that he could survive, even thrive."  
  
Chaos was nodding her head vigorously as Order finished."We shall send the girl too. There is no need in allowing her to die when she could be saved with absolutely no effort."  
  
"Very well. Let us begin."  
****  
  
Ranma closed his eyes as he felt the flame licking at his flesh. It was so very hot! Then the heat was gone and a cool breeze was blowing gently across his sweaty brow. What had happened? Why wasn't he dead? Ranma opened his eyes. The night sky was full of unfamiliar stars. He felt moist grass beneath his fingers and couldn't help wondering if he had actually died. Heaven sure wasn't what he had been expecting. Mybe this was hell.  
  
Ranma heard a small, feminine groan from his side. He looked over to see the girl he had nearly died to save. She was very pretty, he noticed, now that the blood was gone from her face. So too was the cut that the blood had originated from. Just what in hell was going on.  
  
The girl's eyes fluttered open and she held a trembling hand to her face. She seemed amazed to be alive. She looked to Ranma and asked,"What happened?"  
  
"You got hit by a car. I was carrying you to the sidewalk and something exploded. There was fire everywhere. Then I woke up and we were laying here, alive and kicking." He hoped that they were alive.  
  
"Thank you..."  
  
"Ranma."  
  
"Thanks Ranma, for saving me. I'm Nabiki," She allowed Ranma to help her sir up."Do you know where we are?"  
  
Ranma shook his head."I don't recognize any of the constellations."  
  
A rustling in the bushes behind the pair drew their attention before either of them could speak further. Ranma was standing and in a tight fighting stance in a heartbeat.  
  
"Easy there young warrior, I'm just a harmless old man," said the man who stepped out of the brush. He was wearing a white robe that perfectly matched his snowy white beard and equally white hair.  
  
"Did you bring us here?" Ranma asked, never dropping his stance. He had seen too many old men in his short life that possessed deadly martial skills to so easily dismiss this one.  
  
"If only I could perform such a feat as the one that brought you and your lovely companion to my doorstep, but alas, the magical power that was emmitted from your arrival was immense, completely beyond even my comprehension. I did, however, heal the wounds that you and your friend had recieved. Rather nasty burns, and you young lady should watch out for runaway horses, your skull was cracked and half your ribs were broken when I found you. I also took the liberty of repairing your clothes and growing your hair back." The old man stepped closer, allowing Ranma and Nabiki to see that the man wasn't just old, he was ancient."Now follow me young ones, my name is Horvath, and you two are to be my guests while I seek an explanation to how you arrived. If I didn't know better, I would say it was divine intervention that brought you to me." Finished, Horvath used his walking staff to steady himself and headed back into the bushes.  
  
Ranma looked to Nabiki and shrugged. She nodded in response to his unasked question and the two set off after Horvath. They found themselves on a small, slightly overgrown path in the forest floor as they passed beyond two bushes. Up ahead the old man's silluoete was visible against the dim light shining through the windows of a suprisingly large house. The path terminated in a small clearing that ringed the house in five meters of closely cropped grass on.  
  
Horvath was standing at the open door with rich golden light pouring out around him. Ranma could distinctly smell cooking food within.  
****  
  
Horvath had watched in merry amusement as Ranma wolfed down his third helping of stew and as many pieces of bread. His lady friend, Nabiki, seemed just as amused, if not a little disgusted. Ranma and Nabiki had taken turns telling him off the events leading up to their arrival on Nox. The more he heard, the more Horvath believed his theory of divine intervention. The world they hailed from seemed to possess no magic that they were aware of, so the chances of someone transporting them to Nox in a last ditch effort to save them were slim. There was also the amount of magical energy he had felt. Two of his mana crystals had fractured from the massive influx of energy in the area. It was simply incredible.  
  
More incredible, though, were the two children that sat across the table from him. The Seeing he had caste upon them while they were still unconscious had revealed that both Ranma and Nabiki possessed keen intelligence, strong mana centers, and pure spirits. The aura of a conjurer, the earthy greens and browns, had swirled around Nabiki like a whirlwind. To Horvath's utter puzzlement, Ranma's aura had been of total white. The legends, remnants of the remnants of times and empires long dead, spoke of men of destiny who could be anything, and achieve any goal they set themselves to. These men had the same white aura as Ranma. Did it mean that he could actually choose what race he belonged to? Could he be a wizard, a warrior like he had been trained, or a conjurer? Could he be all three? Horvath didn't know, but he planned to find out. Ranma and Nabiki had agreed to stay with him for at least a few months while he sought an answer to the mystery of their arrival. He would be able to introduce the youths to the ideals and beliefs of each of the three races that inhabited Nox. Besides, it would be nice to have some company, even if that company came in the form of a fourteen year old boy and a fifteen year old girl.  
****  
  
Author's Notes: I'd almost be willing to promise that this would be the last new fic that I post, but I don't want to seem anymore of a liar so I'll just say this it is most likely the last new fic I'll post for a while. Okay, I know that the Chaos and Order thing has sorta been done before(in another form), but I try to be kinda original, and there are only so many ways that you can start an alternate universe fic. Anyway, I bet you can guess the matchup in this fic ^_^ C&C is welcome at dark_phoneix@hotmail.com 


	2. A New Life to Live 1

  
  
Nabiki found herself in a bit of a dilema. Here she was, living with a kindly old man and a drop dead gorgeous boy. She was being offered the chance to learn powerful magic that Horvath said was capable of miraculous and deadly feats. Over the last two weeks Ranma had grown much closer to her. Nabiki might even dare to go so far as say that they were a couple, or at least close to it. But though it all, she was haunted by her family. How were they paying the bills now, with Nabiki gone? Neither Akane nor Kasumi had any job skills, and her father was an emotional wreck, so him teaching classes was an impossiblity. Nabiki was worried about her family, but what scared her the most was that she didn't miss them.  
  
She still loved her father, but after being away from his emotional outbursts and foolish ideals was a relief beyond her imagining. Nabiki still loved her sisters too, but she had no desire to be around Akane and her monstrous temper or Kasumi and her oblivious, everything is right with the world, attitude. The sounds of Ranma and Horvath walking up the gravel path from the well brought Nabiki back to full awareness.  
  
Today was the day that Andwywn, Horvath's conjurer friend was visiting. The old man said that Andwywn was the greatest conjurer who had ever lived, and that he had agreed to apprentice Nabiki if she was willing. It was such an amazing offer. No one had ever done anything for her like that.  
  
Ranma had already accepted Horvath's offer to instruct him to be a wizard. Ranma had been literally bouncing off the walls with excitement. Despite his upcoming education, Ranma had chosen to continue practicing the martial arts. Nabiki could understand. They were a part of his life. She had been slightly suprised when Ranma had turned down the warrior Horrendous' offer to tutor him in the arts of war, but Ranma hadn't been very impressed with the warriors of Nox. They fought with weapons which he detested, and he had told Nabiki that the day he wore a tin can to fight in was the day he turned into a girl.  
  
The door opened and Ranma came in, followed by Horvath and a stout man with a huge red beard and a horned helm covering his head.  
  
"Ah, Nabiki, this is my good friend Andwywn. I told you about him," Horvath said once the door was closed.  
  
"Goodness Old Man, you didn't say that she was such a beauty!" Andwywn declared. His rosy face, what wasn't covered in hair, had a broad, friendly smile plastered across it.  
  
Nabiki couldn't help but blush a bit. She didn't feel beautiful in her conservative Furinkan school uniform with no make-up on, but flattery never hurts.  
  
"Easy their Boy, I belive that young Ranma may be getting a bit jealous," Horvath said, pointing to Ranma who was glaring at Andwywn while trying not to be obvious about it.  
  
"Hahaha, not to worry young man. I'm forty years too old for her and a little to married at the moment. I couldn't begin to imagine the things my wife would do to me if she thought I was unfaithful." He finished with another hearty laugh.  
  
Ranma managed to grin sheepishly and hurried off to the room Horvath had given him to gather his few belongings before he and Horvath set out for Castle Glalava and the Tower of Illusion where he would learn to be a wizard.  
  
"So, what will it be Nabiki?" Horvath asked as he levered himself into a nearby chair with his staff.  
  
"Will I be able to visit Ranma?" Nabiki couldn't believe that she was basing her decision around Ranma. He was only fourteen, and she had never cared one way or another about boys, but he was just...Ranma. Anything else seemed to not quite explain him well enough. He was also her only remaining link with earth.  
  
Andwywn grinned at Horvath and in a whisper that could have been heard across the room, said,"Ah, young love." To Nabiki he said."That dearie won't be a problem. Horvath had some of his fancy teleport pads installed in Ix. We'll be able to hop on by Galava any time, not to mention a few choice hunting grounds. I'll have you as a proper conjurer in a year thanks to those pads."  
  
Nabiki was relieved beyond her ability to express. He was only fourteen! And he was arrogant, and rude, and crude, and...Nabiki forced herself to think about rocks in order to keep the blush on her cheeks from becoming too much more noticeable."Well, then the answer is yes, I guess."  
  
Andwywn clapped her on the shoulder with a meaty hand and said,"Run along then and gather your things. I'd imagine that you would want to say goodbye to Ranma too."  
  
Nabiki got the hint and left. Andwywn and Horvath wanted to talk privately.  
****  
  
"You were right, old friend," Andwywn said in wonder."She has great potential. I can't wait to see how she handles the beasties. What of your research into their arrival?"  
  
Horvath shook his head."After two weeks of sleepless nights I'm no closer to an answer. For my own health I'm giving up on the matter. Whatever it was was obviously powerful and the powerful don't always like to be named."  
  
"Right you are. Is Nabiki an unarmed warrior like Ranma?" Andwywn didn't seem to understand the concept of an unarmed warrior.  
  
"No, she claims that her sister practices such a way of fighting, but that she stopped training years ago."  
  
"The whole concept of a warrior without weapons makes no sense to me. Are times changing so quickly around us?"  
  
Horvath smiled slightly."If you ever see Ranma practice his martial arts, you would understand why he needs no weapons. I've never seen anyone move so quickly as that boy does, not even Jandor when I had a haste spell cast on him. And more amazing is his strength. He accidentally uprooted one of my apple trees the day before yesterday when he kicked it too hard." Horvath had too laugh at his friend. The man looked ready to swallow his tongue.  
  
"Surely you jest," Andwywn said, taking deep breathes to steady himself.  
  
"No, it is no jest. At fourteen years of age, Ranma is nearly as strong as Horrendous or Jandor. Can you imagine what he will be like as an adult?" Horvath still had a few good decades in him. He planned to see Ranma achieve his potential.  
  
"A few good lads from that world of his and we could have swept the northlands free of the necromancers a decade earlier."  
****  
  
Ranma and Nabiki came into the room, each carrying a bundle of clothing that Horvath had created for them. To Nabiki's amazement there had also been a leather pouch full to bursting with gold coins waiting for her on her bed. Ranma told her that Horvath meant it for spending money while she learned from Andwywn.  
  
"We're ready," Ranma said. He couldn't wait to be off and start learning magic. He would be the greatest martial artist ever with Horvath's instruction. He didn't want to leave Nabiki, the only friend he had had since Ucchan, but she assured him that they would be allowed to visit each other often.  
****  
  
Ranma and Horvath walked with Nabiki and Andwywn to the teleprt pad that would take them to Ix, Andwywn's village. The two old men exchanged their farewells and Andwywn stepped onto the pad, disappearing in a brief flash of blue light.  
  
Nabiki ran up to Horvath and gave him a huge hug, thanking him for all that he had done for her and Ranma, then she looked from the teleport pad to Ranma and back again. In a rush, she threw her arms around Ranma and gave him a quick kiss before jumping onto the pad and disappearing in another flash of light.  
  
Ranma was busily getting a full body blush when Horvath said,"You do right by that girl and your world will be a much brighter place in your later years."  
  
"Huh?" Ranma asked, distracted by Horvath's statement.  
  
"Not to worry boy, you'll understand in a few years. Now we might as well get on to Galava. I'm sure that you're eager to begin your education."  
  
Ranma nodded and followed Horvath into his study where the teleport pad to his rooms in the Tower of Illusion were located.  
****  
  
Ranma's study of the magical arts began almost immediately upon his arrival at the Tower of Illusion. Horvath escorted him through the building's corridors, greeting several wizards along the way. They all welcomed Ranma and wished him success as a wizard. Finally they came to a huge, vault-like library.  
  
Horvath waved a glowing hand through the air and a half dozen books flew from their places on various shelves and landed on a nearby table. When he saw Ranma's disappointed frown, Horvath said,"Oh you don't have to actually read the book. Just open it up and the thing slams the knowledge right into your head."  
  
Now that was Ranma's kind of book. It would have been difficult to read any way, especially since he didn't read or write the common language of Nox. Ranma sat down a the old wooden table and pulled the first book from the pile. Strangely enough, he could read the book, well the title anyway. Missles of magic. Ranma opened the book and true enough, the knowledge was slammed into his head. Afterwards he felt kinda woozy and his vision was blurred, but he was reasonably sure that he could caste the spell without error. Being in a room full of flammable books, he decided to wait until later to test it out. With similar speed and efficiency, Ranma learned the fireball, lesser heal, lightning, forcefield, and haste spell.  
  
The haste and forcefield spells were nonhazardous, so Ranma gave them a go in the library. The forcefield formed a protective bubble around him that while helpful, also restricted him from the close combat that he preferred. Haste was another matter entirely. It more than doubled his speed! Ranma was streaking up and down the aisles between shleves, trailing shimmering blue dots of light, when Horvath found him.  
  
"I see that your time has been put to good use." Horvath led Ranma over to one of the glowing blue mana crystals and instructed him to stand close to it to allow his mana to recharge.  
  
Ranma had been feeling a bit drained, but not in any physical way that he could identify.  
  
A week passed. During this time Ranma was not introduced to any more spells, instead he was taught how to use them most effectively. He also began a regimen of mediatation and magical exertion that would help to build of his mana capacity.  
  
Ranma didn't spend all of his time on magic, though. Horvath had given him a magic staff on his second day at the Tower. It fired out balls of orange light that could knock a man off his feet, but Ranma didn't waste much time learning its use. The flashes were easy to direct, so instead he found the practice yard where the castle guards and knights practiced. Ranma quickly became a legend among the men who frequented the yard. With or without his staff, Ranma had defeated every man he went up against, without the use of magic.  
****  
  
Nabiki's time in Ix had been differently spent, but equally informative. When she and Andwywn had stepped off the teleport pad, they had been confronted by plump, smiling woman that turned out to be Andwywn's wife, Rosalyn. She greeted Nabiki with a quick hug and, with an arm around her shoulder, led her off into Ix.  
  
"We must get you fitted for proper conjurer attire," she told Nabiki as she led the girl through the quiet streets of the little village. It was dusk and few people were out."Andwywn was so excited to be getting a new apprentice. Tell me about yourself."  
  
Nabiki couldn't help but be infected by Rosalyn's cheerful nature. She briefly descibed her home in Nerima and how her and Ranma had appeared near Horvath's home away from home.  
  
"Most fortunate that Horvath found you. There are few men as good as that old goat." Rosalyn turned the corner and climbed a short set of steps into what appeared to be a general store or armory, or possbily both. Nabiki wasn't really sure.  
  
Inside Nabiki was measured by an enormously fat man with a not-so-pleasant smell. He went into the back room, the storage room, Nabiki guesses, and came back with a virtual wardrobe, one of cotton and wool, another of leather and steel.  
  
Nabiki didn't know what the armor was for, but she welcomed the comfortable cotton clothing over the copies of her school uniform that Horvath had made.  
  
The next day after a breakfast of eggs and ham, Andwywn took Nabiki out behind his and Rosalyn's house."Before I start teaching you the magic of a conjurer, there are things you must first know. How to treat your animals, creatures, demons, or whatever you decide to summon is most important, but we're going to spend today aqaunting you with the weapons at our disposal."  
  
By the end of the day Nabiki's arms were sore from repeated practice with a bow and the heavier crossbow, but she was certain that she could use one proficiently enough if she ever needed to. The next Andwywn had her dress in the heavy leather clothing before they went outside. She soon learned why.   
  
Andwywn, with a few strange words and movements of his hands, called a wolf into being."Every creature that you summon has a mind that works differently than any other. To properly control your animals, you must be able to give the proper commands."  
  
That entire day Nabiki did nothing but learn how to control wolves, bears, and some huge spiders. The leather clothing never was needed, but it did make Nabiki feel safer around all those deadly claws and poisionous fangs. After dinner, Andwywn brought Nabiki three heavy, green leather bound books. She recieved the same instructions in their use as Ranma had, and before falling asleep that night, she could cast pixie swarm. lesser heal, and charm creature.  
  
The rest of the week Nabiki and Andwywn spent most of their time in the forests around Ix. Nabiki had plenty of practice charming various forest creatures. By the time they returned at the end of the week, Nabiki could summon two attack pixies at a time and easily direct them with her mind.  
****  
  
Ranma, his staff held loosely in his right hand, stepped onto the teleport pad, and with a wave to Horvath, disappeared from the Tower of Illusion and reappeared in the village of Ix. He was met by Nabiki, Andwywn, and another woman. Ranma still remembered the peck of a kiss that Nabiki had gave him, and blushed as soon as he saw her smiling face.  
  
"We'll let you two catch up," Rosalyn said, pulling her husband into the house by his beard.  
  
"Um, hi," Ranma said nervously.  
  
"Oh cut it out, Ranma," Nabiki said."It was just a little goodbye kiss." She walked over to Ranma, took hold of his and, and led him towards the back yard. In truth, Nabiki was as nervous as Ranma, but was much better at hiding her feelings than Ranma.  
  
Once they passed through the gate into the back yard, Ranma was assaulted by an overactive, coal black puppy. It barked sqeakily at him, jumped up trying to snag his staff in its little teeth, and eventually settled for gnawing on the leather shin guard of Ranma's left leg.  
  
"Good boy," Nabiki cooed to the puupy."Protect mommy from the bad man."  
  
The puppy seemed to understand Nabiki's command and laid into Ranma with all the more force."Hey, get this little monster off of me!" Ranma cried.  
  
"Don't be such a baby, Ranma. Char's teeth can't get through the leather and he's just having fun."  
  
"What kind of dog is he?" Ranma asked while waving his leg around in the air. Char held on, even as Ranma swung him around mercilessly.  
  
"He's a wolf," Nabiki said excitely."Isn't he cute?"  
  
Ranma, still flinging the wolf pup around like a doll said,"Sure... cute. Think maybe you could get him off of me before he chews my leg off?"  
  
"I guess. You should be glad that Rosalyn wouldn't let me keep a bear in the house." Nabiki mentally commanded Char to release Ranma's leg.  
  
The little puppy let go of his new chew toy and came to a somewhat graceful landing on his feet next to Nabiki. She reached down and sratched him behind the ears.  
  
"So what have you been up to?" Ranma asked after a couple minutes of awkward silence.  
  
Nabiki hopped up to the top of the fence and sat down."Learned a few spells, and Andwywn has been taking into the forest to learn about the animals that I can control and stuff. What about you?"  
  
"About the same, except that instead of a forest I have to learn to meditate properly so that I can caste more spells. How about showing me the forest?"  
  
Nabiki was grateful for Ranma's proposal. With something to do besides around and stare at the ground, the day would be much more pleasant.  
****  
  
"The forest is pretty wild, so watch your back," Nabiki warned.  
  
"No problem, it's nothing I can't handle."  
  
Nabiki rolled her eyes and led Ranma deeper into the woods. They had been walking along the barely visible trail for no more than five minutes when Ranma's staff whistled out, deflecting a stone from hitting Nabiki in the face.  
  
"It's just an urchin Ranma." Nabiki performed the spell to summon her little attack pixies.  
  
"What are those?" Ranma asked when he saw the little winged, glowing child-like pixies.  
  
"They're pixies. Andwywn says that they're like the missles of magic that you wizards use. These just stick around for a while once summoned."  
  
Ranma nodded and readied his staff. He didn't know how many of these urchin things were out there and there didn't appear to be any mana crystals nearby to recharge from if he caste too many spells. The enchanted staff would have to do unless they ran into something bigger.  
  
No sooner had Ranma raised his staff than a hail of rocks came flying from three different directions. Ranma's staff spun through the air, knocking most of the projectiles to the ground. Ranma saw a little creature behind a bush and assuming that it was an urchin, levelled his staff at it, releasing a handfull of glowing balls of light. One of Nabiki's pixies trailed behind the lights, coming a moment to late to do any good as Ranma's attack killed their attacker. The pixie changed course and collided explosively with another urchin.  
  
The rocks were still coming from two separate directions, and Ranma couldn't knock them all out of the air. The ones that did make it through didn't hurt much, but they were an annoyance that could add up to makor pain. Ranma heard Nabiki caste a spell and all of a sudden one of the urchins turned on its comrade and began pelting it with rocks instead of them.  
  
Ranma saw that they were facing no serious threat and decided to open up some of is own magic on the little nuisances. After that, they made short work of their attackers, coming out with no serious injuries. Nabiki had, however, taken control of a pair of urchins.  
  
"It looks like Char is going to have some new playmates, eh?"  
  
"I don't know yet. Urchins are destructive little creatures, Rosalyn might not let me keep them."  
****  
  
"And how many of them did you say there were?" Andwywn asked once they had returned and told of the events in the forest.  
  
"A dozen if none of them ran away," Ranma answered.  
  
Andywyn sighed."I thought that I had run them out for at least another year. Oh well. Nabiki and I are going to have to start swweping the forest for them. Would you like to help?"  
  
"Sure."  
****  
  
Author's Notes: I know that a lot of stuff happened in a little bit of time, but I'm trying to get Nabiki and Ranma up to their normal ages as quickly as possible, so...Anyway, next chapter they're are gonna be their normal ages and things will slow down from there. Also, in the game Nox, Aldywn is actually the master conjurer, but I made a few adjustments to his character and got him hitched for purposes of the story. No big deal really. C&C welcome at dark_phoneix@hotmail.com  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  



	3. A New Life to Live 2a

A New Life to Live: Chapter Two  
  
Two years, and some odd months later.  
  
"Ow! Damnit, that hurts!" Ranma bellowed. He was bent over a destroyed column, being subjected to Nabiki's tender mercies, as she slowly cut the flesh from around a barbed arrowhead that had become embedded in Ranma's ass.  
  
"Be still you big baby," Nabiki chided him as she finally pulled the monstrous projectile from Ranma's posterior, it's spell wrought metal undulating and giving off wave of foul energy."There, now you can heal yourself and we can get the hell out of here." Nabiki wiped her blood slick knive and hands off on her cloak.  
  
Ranma sighed in relief even as he cast a healing spell on himself, depleting the last of his sorcerous energies, but at last relieving himself of the debilitating pain brought upon by the Aero Demon's arrow. He pulled his torn and bloody pants up just as one of the ember demons that Nabiki had set to guarding the door gave of its death scream and exploded, shaking the unstable tomb's supports.  
  
"I'm tapped Nabiki, you think you could call up something to hold the doorway until I can manage to teleport us to safety?" Ranma asked. They wouldn't have to worry about depleted mana if the next room held a mana crystal, but the ancient map didn't indicate one where it had clearly shown where all the others in the long forgotten tomb were located.  
  
Nabiki grinned and from behind her back pulled a small bottle filled with a glowing blue liquid. She drank half and offered the rest to Ranma. He accepted the concentrated mana eagerly, glad to be once again armed against the hellspawn that inhabited their latest vacation spot. If he had known that the touch of the zombies that infested the place was poisionous, Ranma would have came properly equipped, but the map had downplayed the dangers and he had only his most basic clothing and a few bottles of mana and health elixir. Nabiki had been even less prepared, with a single quiver of mundane arrows and a like amount of potions, or so he had thought."Been saving that, just encase," Nabiki said."If Char was here I would trust him at the door, but since he isn't..."  
  
Ranma stood well back from his companion's conjuring, and was glad that he had when a giant amalgam of leather, steel, and necromatic power materialized where he had stood. Nabiki gave the mecha golem its mental marching orders and sent it to back up the remaining ember demon at the door."You know, it may have helped if you had let me use that when we were fighting the demon," Ranma said a bit heatedly. He had had to sacrifice a rather valuable enchanted staff in order to get enough charge to form the death ray spell that had finally brought down the hellspawn.  
  
"It all worked out in the end, Ranma. Besides, how could I have gotten it to you? I was trapped in that cage when you broke your staff, the bottle wouldn't even have fit through the bars." Nabiki's simple explanation and patience with Ranma and the foul mood he tended to get whenever he came near death seemed to disarm the wizard.  
  
"You're right. Sorry if I sounded a bit ungrateful," he apologized. He pushed the matter aside in favor of more important matters."Now, let's find out what in hell we nearly got ourselves killed over."  
  
Nabiki nodded in agreement and smiled at Ranma's enthusiasm. She produced the small silver key that would unlock the last room within the temple that they had yet to explore. This was the chamber where their efforts would be rewarded.  
  
"When the door opens, stand back," Ranma said cautiously."I still have enough energy to pull off a couple spells without depleting myself so much that I wouldn't be able to teleport."  
  
Nabiki silently agreed, but readied herself for a spell if the need arose. Ranma was too protective and didn't trust in her abilites enough to allow himself to completely focus on the conflict at hand, Nabiki knew that there was little chance of changing that in Ranma, so she let Ranma make the combat decisions and she pretty much had free rein in the more normal parts of the relationship they shared.  
  
Ranma accepted the key from Nabiki and inserted it into the lock, turning it and kicking open the door in one fluid motion. He leapt through the doorway and turned in midair to survey either side of the door before rebounding off the wall and returning to Nabiki's side."No obvious traps, and there aren't any zombies that I could see, but that doesn't mean they're not there."   
  
It was obvious to Nabiki that Ranma was reluctant to trust her safety to whatever lay within the room. Nabiki shook her head at his behavior and followed him back into the brightly lit room.   
  
The room was the burial vault of a long dead wizard who's many enchantments upon his crypt had allowed the denizens of hell to transport massive numbers of their more numerous, though weak minions, into iis depths. The elemental demons the wizard had set to guarding his rest had gone unharassed by their bretheren, a fact that both Ranma and Nabiki had learned of all too recently. The vault was in simple terms, magnificent. The demonic corruption that had turned the outer crypt into a dark realm of shadow and horror had not reached this last bastion of power. The walls gleamed silver and from torches kept alight by some long duration spell, golden light bathed every manner of beasts, pottery, and other finery, all of which was of cast gold, or fine porcelain.   
  
Nabiki and Ranma hadn't come for the material wealth contained here, though it was tempting to pry loose a few of the fist sized diamonds and other precious stones that were peppered liberally throughout the room, but instead for the objects of power that lay within the sarcophagus of the wizard itself.  
  
"I don't know what's keeping those zombies from dying and protecting them from my demon's fire, but the golem can't hold them all off for long and the ember demon just bit the dust," Nabiki said, letting the urgency of their situation carry with her voice.  
  
Ranma strode purposely to the giant chunk of finely carved ivory that was their hosts final resting place. He slid his fingers under the edge of the lid and with a casual flick of his wrists and a tensing of the muscles in his arms, Ranma heaved it to the floor where it crashed thunderously and shattered like glass.  
  
Old bones long free of flesh stared up at Ranma with the same hideous grin that an animated skeleton gave before attacking. This skeleton, however, didn't attack. Robes of fine silk and once, undoubtedly enchanted, had gone to ruin centuries earlier and no longer his within them their booty.  
  
Nabiki peered over the edge and into the musty coffin."We had better hurry, the golem is weakening and four dozen zombies waiting to pour through that doorway when it dies." Warning once again spoken, Nabiki reached down and yanked the dried bones aside, revealing, at last, their prize, or prizes.  
  
Reverently, Ranma picked up a heavy tome, one of the ancient grimoires that required study and practice to master its multiple spells, and stowed it away within that area of warped space that all people of Nox who were dedicated to their in life possessed. Nabiki, with the same reverance that Ranma had shown, knelt and pulled a leather bound bundle from its resting place. She balanced it on the edge of the sarcophagus and hastily undid the ties that held it closed. Inside were several scroll cases and a medium sized bow, black as cold iron and as smooth as glass, it was unstrung, but an aura of menace spread forth from it even in it's seemingly harmless form.  
  
"Finally," Ranma exulted. He was about to invoke the spell that would carry Nabiki and himself to safety when a glint of metal within the sarcophagus caught his eye. Ranma quickly pulled another bundle from the sarcophagus and slipped it in with his other possessions just as zombies flooded in through the unbarred door.  
  
"Ranma," Nabiki said, and that was al it took to convince Ranma to get them out of the last God forsaken hole in the ground that either of them intended to visit for a very, very long time.  
****  
  
"It is simply unacceptable, Horvath," Nester, one of his fellow wizards stated firmly."They are yet to be adults, mere children, and for over a year they have been raiding ancients tombs, forgotten temples, and abandoned Necromancer strongholds. I shudder to think of what they have unleashed into the world in their ignorance of the forces they play with. Less than a week ago I spied Nabiki summoning elemental demons that even I hadn't known existed, and Ranma, your apprentice, was blasting them from existance with Chaos spells of such magnitude that I feared for my very life!"  
  
Horvath had never liked the little rat-faced man who everyone knew secretly lusted for power and was at the same time almost physically sick with the knowledge that others were indeed more powerful than he."Nester, your fears are unfounded, I assure you. Andwywn swears that he has never seen a conjurer with so much control over the creatures she commands, and I swear to you that Ranma is bordering on mastery of a whole new form of magic, something derived from the forces of Chaos and Order which we once used millenia ago. Of the spells I have witnessed him cast, none have gone astray, and his knowledge grows daily. You have nothing to fear from two enthusiastic youths. Now, if you would excuse me my friend, I am not as young as I once was and my old bones are weary." Horvath waited for Nester to acknowledge his not so subtle dismissal.  
  
"Very well, but I can 'assure' you that the Assembly will hear of your pupil's craving for power denied to all men." With those parting words, Nester turned on his heel and scurried from Horvath's office.  
  
Although there was little chance that the Assemby would reprimand Ranma for this 'craving' for power that Nester accused him of, Horvath reminded himself to warn the boy of the possibility, no matter how remote.  
****  
  
Meanwhile, Ranma and Nabiki were relaxing in the large tub that Horvath had had installed in his forest home. As numerous cramps and aches were carried away by the steaming water, Nabiki, her body pressed closely against Ranma, asked,"What kind of swords were those?"  
  
She was referring to the twin rune swords that Ranma had found in Irtram's tomb, neither of which had been listed on the map they had recovered from the mountain temple of a once worshipped demon god."I'm not sure yet. I know that they are opposites in some way, but my experience with enchanted artifacts is pretty limited. I'll have Horvath take a look at them tomorrow." The spell book Ranma had attained also required Horvath's input since much of its cantents were in a dialect of Nox's language that he could not read. Nabiki's bow was much more straight forward, firing bolts of pure magic force, and the scrolls within the cases she had found had not only contained the proper information to summon the demon lord she had been seaking, but also the previously unknown demons that Irtram had bound to his tomb.  
  
"I want to get back to earth just as much as you Ranma, but if we get ourselves killed in the attempt, what good will it do us?" Nabiki asked a few minutes later.  
  
"We don't belong here Nabiki, can't you feel it?" Ranma asked in response.  
  
"So what if I can? So what if we don't belong on Nox? We're here now and Horvath doesn't believe that we will ever be able to leavem so why don't we settle down, put out some roots?" Nabiki squeezed his encircling arms in emphasis."At the very least we could wait a few more years, build up our strength, then try to find a way back to earth. Back home we would still be in school without any responsibilities, though without our consent, here on Nox, however, we could do whatever we want, we have enough treasure to never work another day in our lives, but you keep throwing yourself into one mad quest after another looking for shreds of useless information, and I always follow along, keeping you alive as best as I can." Nabiki realized that she was crying. She never cried. Well almost never."One day one of us might not come back. I don't want to think about what I would do in grief if I lost you." Nabiki could see herself turning loose hordes of rampaging demons, all of them bent on blood and death.  
  
Ranma was silent for only a few moments, though it felt like an eternity to both of them."Okay, you win," he eventually said."We'll find some nice little hole in the wall and make a life for ourselves, then we'll see about getting home." Only Ranma feared that Nox had become their home or soon would, and that a comfortable life with Nabiki just might be too much to leave behind.  
****  
  
Ranma unfolded the dry and cracked leather sheet that the rune swords were stored within upon the large wooden table in Horvath's lab.  
  
"Demon's blood!" Horvath cursed in half astonishment, half awe.  
  
"What?!" Ranma asked his mentor. From the old man's reaction he expected that the swords were very powerful or valuable in some way.  
  
"Ranma, where did you find those accursed blades?" Horvath asked intently. If Nester knew that Ranma had returned the mythical sword 'Death Wind' and it's black brother 'Stormbringer' to the light of day, he would surely go to every effort to have Ranma punished, if simply to eliminate another individual that he saw as his superior.  
  
Ranma shrugged."They were in Irtram's sarcophagus along with some other stuff."  
  
Horvath fell back into his chair with a heavy sigh, wearied by the short and eventful visit of Ranma."Irtram you say? How did you locate it? I thought it's location had gone from the minds of mortal men a millenia ago."  
  
"There was a map of the place at the Temple of Arioch."  
  
Horvath's eyes widened and he had to take several deep breathes to steady his breathing. It appeared that Ranma had been busy lately."What else did you bring back from the temple and Irtram's tomb?"  
  
"Arioch's Temple didn't have anything in it besides the map and a lot of demons, but Irtram's tomb had some demon scrolls and a magic bow that Nabiki claimed and I found a comprehensive book on ice magic. About the swords, what's so special and accursed about them?"  
  
Horvath picked up the black-bladed sword with the blood-red runes carved along its surface."Stormbringer is an ancient hell-forged blade of great power that has been wielded by both the just and corrupt throughout history of reality. It devours the very soul of its victims and transfers their energy to its wielder." Next Horvath picked up the white-bladed, silver-runed sword."This is Death Wind, said to have been forged in heaven at the exact moment that Stormbringer came into existance in hell. It too steals its victim's soul, but instead of destroying them, it automatically reincarnates them without a chance of judgement in heaven. What it doesn't give it's wielder in energy, it more than makes up for with its ability to turn aside virtually any spell. Both blades are indestructible and have seen whole whole universes explode around them, yet they simply relocate themselves by some magic means that no one on Nox understands. Right now they both appear to be dormant."  
  
Ranma's interest was enflamed. He didn't know whether or not he could ever bring himself to use such weapons that so casually toyed with a beings soul, but their ability to travel between universes could possibly be harnessed to return Nabiki and himself to earth.  
  
"Ranma, I must caution you to keep your ownership of these swords a secret from all whom do not already know. There are people within the Assembly of Wizards that envy you your power and quick rise to wizard. They would use your possession of them as a way to harm or punish you in some way."  
  
Ranma nodded gravely and after rebinding the swords, slipped them back into subspace."I'd better go put these somewhere safe then." Ranma stepped towards the teleport pad that led to Horvaths's other home. Then with a grimace of distaste or possibly embarrassment, he turned and said,"Nabiki told me to tell you that you're invited to our wedding."  
  
Horvath was getting tired of these constant shocks to his system. His poor old heart just could take too many more of them. He admitted that Nabiki and Ranma made a very good couple and got along with each other wonderfully, but they were so young, and to be married..."Ranma, I'm honored and would be glad to attend your's and Nabiki's wedding, but don't you think you may be too young to marry?"  
  
Again Ranma grimaced, and a blush accompanied the look of discomfort this time."You think I don't know that? I sure don't want to get married, that's for sure, but Nabiki said that I had to sleep on the couch until I agreed, and well, you know..." His blush deepened.  
  
It must be in their blood, Horvath declared to himself. His late wife had done the exact same thing over seventy years ago."Would you like me to talk to Nabiki, maybe talk some sense into her?"  
  
The look of hope and relief on Ranma's face made Horvath laugh uncontrollably."Would you, please?" he asked desperately.  
  
"Of course, of course! Now get on out of here before your intended starts getting worried!" Horvath didn't stop laughing until Ranma was long gone.  
****  
  
Author's Notes: Hey all, hope everyone had a good Easter. I didn't, but viruses and bacteria don't work by any man made schedule that I know of, so while I was on vacation, they were hard at work trying to liquify my internal organs. I survived though, and am feeling much better. I even decided to type up another chapter of this fic. I hope you enjoy it and remember, send C&C to me at dark_phoneix@hotmail.com  
  



	4. A New Life to Live 2b

  
  
  
A New Life to Live: Chapter 2, Part 2  
  
Nabiki watched through the back window of their moderately sized cottage as Ranma went through a blazingly fast kata, the Staff of Oblivion swirling around him in a howling blur. It's current enchantment, an ice spell of Ranma's own devising, filled the air with a thin mist as it cooled the surrounding air. Ranma had cultivated much dislike among the natives of Nox when he reassembled two of the three pieces of the staff also known as the Necromancer's Bane. It wasn't as if it were still truly dangerous, not with the Orb of Souls long banished from Nox, sucked into a magically created wormhole.  
  
Nabiki turned her eyes from Ranma and went back to cutting the vegetables for their supper. She hated the times when it was her turn to cook. The meals were always so drab, and the cleanup afterwards was a bitch, but Ranma's meals always seemed possessed of a peculiar flavor that she often believed was the result of some obscure spell that he had learned in secret.  
  
She heard the massive explosion that accompanied one of Ranma's sorcerous traps that were spread liberally throughout the forest and along the small road that led to their little settlement. No doubt another 'adventurer' seeking to make a name for him or herself by besting Ranma, or even Nabiki herself, who in their few years upon Nox had become infamous in many regards. She had heard tales that under their home huge caches of gold and jewels, magical treasures and objects of power were stored. How this rumor had been started, nobody knew, but it now led to the death of at least three people a week.  
  
Ranma would no doubt go to reset the sprung trap. She had little fear that anyone had survived it's detonation, not with the powerful fire, ice, and chaos spells that Ranma wove into his traps. There would probably even be a new pond the next time they got a good rain. Even with her confidence in Ranma, Nabiki set a squad of forest spirits to guard Ranma encase he walked into an ambush.  
  
Nabiki's betrothed returned even as she laid the night's supper out on the table. She gasped in suprise, nearly dropping a plate of biscuits. Ranma was covered in blood, as was the Staff of Oblivion which he held in his right hand, but from the lack of wounds evident on Ranma, none of it was his."Ranma, what happened?" she asked quickly.  
  
Ranma smiled in fading battle rage."There was an army of them, Nabiki. Three dozen trained warriors, at least three wizards and two conjurers. Those spirits you sent really were a life saver. I doubt I would have made it if they weren't there."  
  
Before Ranma could sit down, Nabiki grabbed him lightly by his pig-tail and drug him towards the bathroom. Any blood he got on the furniture was his responsibility to clean up, but Ranma always ended up resorting to a spell to remove the recalcitrant stains and that was always the signal for Nabiki to go buy new furniture because the old had reached the end of its life.  
  
As Ranma washed the blood from himself, he told Nabiki of the encounter with the men in the forest. None of them had been poorly dressed and all were in fine, polished armor or whatever garb suited their profession. They obviously weren't strapped for cash, and the attack had been so well planned, so perfectly executed, that Ranma should have died. If he had been any normal wizard, he would have died, but Ranma was by no means normal. When they had sought to nullify his magic, they had succeeded, but only in nullifying the magic that they themselves knew. His chaos and ice magic had served him well until he had at last depleted his considerable mana reserves.  
  
His remaining foes had thought him easy pickings when once they saw his last spell flicker and die from lack of power. The warriors' valliant charge had met only with a ruthless opponent who outclassed them in their own field. With the Staff of Oblivion and its ability to hold any enchantment placed upon it, Ranma had carved up a gruesome, half-frozen offering to the scavengers of the forest. Nabiki's spirits had kept the conjurers from drawing on any supernatural aid while Ranma slowly herded them towards another trap.  
  
This trap was one designed to force its victim into a state of uncontrolled, and magically enhanced speed. The wizards and conjurers who had hung back from physical battle were then forced, against their will, to run straight into Ranma's grip.  
  
"We should get in touch with Horvath, Ranma. He has the resources to discover who is behind all these attacks," Nabiki said as she slowly washed and massaged Ranma's tense back.  
  
"It was the Council," Ranma responded."Each of them, warrior, conjurer, and wizard wore the mark of their Assembly. I guess that someone has finally convinced the higher-ups that we're too dangerous to live free."  
  
Nabiki jerked her hands from Ranma's back and forcefully turned him around to look straight into his eyes. He wasn't joking!"I'll gather my things and call back my creatures. You should start gathering all your traps and constructs, we'll probably need them," she said, standing up and heading for the door.  
  
"So we we're off to the Castle?" Ranma asked. Nabiki nodded."Oh well, it had to happen some time."  
  
The Castle in question was one of those discovered the year before during their more adventurous roamings. It, like so many other abandoned places of magic, had become infested with various hellspawn. This one had been full to the brim with the undead and several species of medium strength demons. Besides its demons, though, the castle had remained untouched by the years or the corruption that denizens of hell so often radiated. It was there, under the watchful eye of golems and ember demons, that they stored the vast treasure they had accumulated. It also sported several deactivated teleport pads that once restored, allowed for easy transit to most of Nox's major cities and sites of magic.  
****  
  
Throughout the night Ranma tirelessly removed all the traps laid within the forest and stored them in the Castle as they simply referred to it. His experiments with enchanted armor and clothing, along with the equipment needed to carry out the experiments took two trips by teleport pad. Nabiki had some trouble with her little menagerie of summoned and charmed creatures. The forest spirits she relesed back into their natural environment, but Char along with his mate and a dozen half grown wolf puppies, a horde of various sized spiders, an amazingly tamed ember demon, and the trio of urchins that they used to take care of the gardening and general upkeep of their cottage all had to be herded reluctantly through to the Castle, located between two snow peaked mountains in the far north.  
  
It was only after everything had been settled in and Nabiki and Ranma were laying in a feather stuffed bed, wrapped in silks and each other that the glowing face of Horvath appeared at the foot of their bed.  
  
"By all that is Holy, you're alive!" the face exclaimed in happiness.  
  
Ranma sat up, disentangling himself from Nabiki, and in the process pulling the creamy silk sheet from her. She 'eeked' and hurriedly snatched the sheet back over herself."Horvath? How did you find us?"  
  
"Oh, you two, I am so happy to see that you live!" Tears flowed down Horvath's incandescent face."I tried to convince the Assembly and then the Council of your innocence, but there were too many against me. With your partial reassembly of the Stall of Oblivion, they all thought you sought after the power of the Necromancers that it destroyed."  
  
"How did you find us?" Ranma repeated impatiently. If Horvath could do it, so too could others.  
  
Horvath smiled at Ranma, and said,"Not to worry my boy. There'll be nobody following my trail, not unless they wish to journey to the Forest of Souls."  
  
"That would mean-" Ranma started.  
  
"That I am dead," Horvath finished."Yes, sadly I leave this world. They were too strong for me, the combined powers of the Council. I tried to get a warning to you, but they were just too strong. It appears that you two still live though, so even in death I know that you cause at least some small torment to my murderers."  
  
"Horvath, I could bind your soul if you wished," offered Nabiki."You would still be immaterial, but at least you would live on, in some form."  
  
"No sweet child, it is my time to go, so I will go with dignity, not gibbering in terror at my uncertain fate." Horvath's image began losing the little integrity that it had."Farewell, and may the gods smile upon you," were his last words before fading away entirely.  
  
For some time after the old man's ghost had departed, Nabiki held Ranma in her arms as he mourned the man who had been more of a father to him than his blood sire.  
****  
  
The vengeance reaped by Ranma and Nabiki after that day was great and frightening. From the Castle, Ranma cast spells of such power that they reached halfway across the world to dissolve, freeze, burn, or raze the strongholds of his enemies. Within a week of Horvath's death, Castle Horrendous, the main seat of Warrior power on Nox, had been turned to charred rubble. Castle Galava and the Tower of Illusion were the next to fall, though both places could have been easily protected by their inhabitants if they had prepared any type of defense against Ranma, but in their arrogance and confidence in their own abilities, the Wizards, too, lost their seat of power.  
  
It was Nabiki who wraught wholesale destruction upon the less centralized conjurers. She could only control so many demons and other creatures at one time, but by giving them simple instructions then turning them loose, Nabiki had a near-limitless army at her disposal.  
  
Through it all, no lives were lost. The warriors lost their strongholds and armouries, the wizards their great storehouses of arcane knowledge and magic power, and the conjurers their accumulated knowledge of controllable lifeforms from the various planes of existance that bordered Nox.  
  
Though they did not know it at the time, Ranma and Nabiki had set in motion an upheaval in the culture and tradition of Nox. Their single-minded fury had planted the seeds for a new dark age that once banished by the light of enlightenment, would see a world without magic, without even the knowledge that magic had once existed.  
  
But for now, in the present, Ranma and Nabiki were content to live their lives. Time passed in the Castle, and life went on. Ranma turned seventeen, and a few months later Nabiki reached eighteen. They were content with what role Fate had alloted them.  
  
Then one day as an early winter storm pounded on the walls of the ancient castle, Nabiki heard a shout from Ranma. She raced through the halls, fearing that at last they had been found and that vengeance was to be extracted from the avengers. The sight of Ranma smiling broadly, his form glowing with radiant joy, convinced Nabiki that nothing bad had happened. At least not anything that Ranma saw as bad. He had a weird view of somethings every now and then.  
  
"I can get us home!" he shouted to Nabiki when he saw her enter his laboratory.  
  
Nabiki mouthed the word 'home'. It was an alien thought, viewing Nox as anything but home. Was earth truly their home?  
****  
  
Ranma was exultant from his triumph over the forces of the universe that had hindered him at every turn, but he too didn't know ih he truly, in his heart, wanted to go back to earth. His life had never been a pleasant one, not with the constant training. There had been no real friends, not even Ucchan who was little more than a passing aquaintance, and no place to call home. Earth was no home, just as Nox was no home, Ranma realized. Home was what you made of your surroundings and the place where you felt truly relaxed. In that case, the Castle was home.  
  
"But I'm not sure if I want to go," he confided after his first announcement.  
  
Nabiki understood Ranma's decision, for she had come to the same conclusion."How could we travel back to earth 'if' we wished to go?" she asked him in hopes of keeping his spirits reasonably high.  
  
"The two rune swords are the key. Horvath once told me of how they travelled from one universe to another, so I decided to look into how they did it."  
  
"Did you discover how?" Nabiki asked, her curiosity piqued by the involvement of the mysterious swords they had found a year earlier.  
  
Ranma looked towards the end of the room where each of the two exquisately crafted blades stood upright within a glass container full of water."Nope, still haven't got a clue to how they do it, but I know how to 'use' it."  
  
The gears in Nabiki's head were turning, and the proverbial light bulb had become a blaring siren and flashing neon sign."Could we go to earth and come back to Nox whenever we wanted?"  
  
"Well, yeah, I guess," Ranma answered slowyly, trying to figure out what Nabiki was thinking.  
  
"Ranma, why not visit for a while? We could tell our families that we're okay and that we are happy." They could also bring some people back with them to populate the Caslte, and Nabiki was already making a mental checklist of all the antibiotics and drugs that could be used on Nox to treat diseases that also inhabited earth. Magic didn't always remedy such malidies, not to mention that magic wasn't always available or free if you had a sick child, but cheap earth born medicines would have no such disadvantages.  
  
"That wouldn't be so bad. I would like to see how Pops is doing. Hell, I might even be able to find my Mom."  
  
Nabiki, too, would relish being with her family once again. Who knew, maybe she could get them to come back to Nox with her and Ranma.  
****  
  
Author's Notes: Couldn't sleep so I decided to do something mildly productive. The results were this short sub-chapter that may not be all that well written but advances the story to the point that I can put Ranma and Nabiki back on earth. Won't that be fun? Send me C&C at dark_phoneix@hotmail.com 


	5. A New Life to Live 3

  
A New Life to Live: Chapter 3  
  
There were no mana crystals on earth, at least not any that Ranma or Nabiki knew of. This meant that in the event that they actually needed to replenish their energy, potions or rest would have to be used. Due to the high energy content of a mana potion, the most storable within a magic users personal subspace was nine vials. Nine vials a piece meant that Ranma and Nabiki were fairly well stocked wherever they went, but once those were gone, that would be all they would have during their stay on earth. Sure they could fully recharge themselves with an hour of rest, but demons and ghouls didn't typically give their victims the time necessary to vanquish them.  
  
Then again, Nabiki thought, earth wasn't exactly infested with supernatural creatures. The most they would probably come up against would be a really tough cockroach.  
  
Ranma came into the room, a canvas travelling pack over either shoulder. Each contained clothes of a more earthly appearance that Nabiki had had secretly made in a small village on the other side of Nox. All the valuable stuff, their weapons and armor, would be stored as they always were, in the subspace.  
  
"You ready?" Ranma asked. He was already wearing a replica of the chinese clothes he had come ot Nox in.  
  
"Yeah, have been for an hour," Nabiki replied, causing Ranma to roll his eyes. In truth she had been saying numerous goodbyes to Char and his large family of nearly full grown wolves. The Castle would be well defended by the exceptionally intelligent canines. Not to mention the various demons and traps spread throughout the surrounding grounds and lower floors.  
  
Ranma handed Nabiki her pack and moved over to the device that would carry them back to earth. Ranma reached into the water of Death Wind's cylinder and drew the sword. The process that would carry them to earth would require that one of the blades be awakened, and he had no intention of using the soul drinking black blade. Death Wind may not have been pleasantly named or created with an entirely benign purpose, but it was not evil, and that made all the difference to Ranma. Besides, with its ability to turn aside any spell cast at its wielder, Ranma could see the advantage of carrying it around with him on Nox.  
  
"The spell has already been cast on the sword. All we have to do is hold on," Ranma told Nabiki.  
  
"Hold on?" she asked while tightening the straps of her pack.  
  
"Well, it is going to be pulling us through warped space and a dimensional barrier or two, so it probably wouldn't be a good idea to not hold on," Ranma answered wryly, earning him a jab in the ribs from Nabiki.  
  
"Thanks for waiting until the last minute to tell me." Nabiki sighed and incanted a brief spell, causing a coil of thick hemp rope to appear in her hand."Tie one end around your waste," she ordered, then following her own instructions, Nabiki tied the other end of the rope around her own waste."Once we get going, spell it for invulnerability, just encase."  
  
Ranma nodded, silently agreeing with Nabiki's practical safety measure. He cast the required spell to make the rope temporarily indestructible, and along with it threw up a forcefield around himself and Nabiki. The nearby mana crystal replenished the spent energy.  
  
Nabiki reached out and took Ranma's hand, giving it a firm squeeze.  
  
Ranma held the massive white broadsword with it's glowing silver runes high over his head. He spoke a single word and the laboratory was bathed in a bright flash of silver light. When the light subsided, Death Wind was held at Ranma's side giving off a barely perceptible whine of metallic joy. The silver runes slowly shifted upon the blade, folding over themselves then returning to normal, only to repeat the pattern again and again.  
  
"Ranma, that sword-"  
  
"Is alive. I did some research on it and found out that it's at least semi-sentient." Ranma finished for her.  
  
"How is it possible for a sword to be alive?" Nabiki asked in wonder. When Ranma had told her that the swords were dormant, Nabiki thought that he meant their enchantments.  
  
"No one knows. The wizard who found it doesn't even know for sure what its name is. They only call it Death Wind because you can see it force the soul's from its victims. When it kills enough people in close enough conditions, the souls resemble a ghost wind."  
  
Nabiki shivered involuntarily. If Death Wind was that bad and it was supposed to be good, Stormbringer must be horrible with its evil, soul devouring intelligence."Ranma, promise me that you'll never use Stormbringer. Imagine what it would do to your soul to eat another person's."  
  
Ranma swore that he would never use Stormbringer, but knew in his heart that if Nabiki's life was ever on the line and the sword was required, he would forsake his oath in a heartbeat."Now, Death Wind, let's visit earth!" Ranma cried out, slicing through the air with the murmuring blade.  
  
The space that Death Wind passed through became wavy, then heavily blurred. Blurred became a milky gray which suddenly went dead black. With a jerk, Death Wind flew towards the hole in reality. Ranma held the hilt tightly in one hand, and Nabiki in the other.  
  
At first there was nothing but a black void, but a minute after their arrival, colors began to appear. Red streamers of energy were chased by green spheres of pulsing light, blue clouds collided with white leaving behind angry purple clouds. Nabiki and Ranma stared in wonder at the unusual events occuring around them.   
  
Soon there was nothing but chaotic masses of writhing, bubbling, and bursting energy. As Death Wind pulled them through a crack in existance, its magic protected the couple from the raging forces of primal, untamed havoc. Ranma's force field never once came in contact with their surroundings, something which Ranma was immensely grateful for since he suspected that his flimsy attempt at defense wouldn't have held up for very long.  
  
A minute passed, or it could have been an eternity, neither Nabiki nor Ranma could tell for certain with time having little meaning in a place where it didn't exist. Then they were in the black void once again. Time chose to exert itself here, and the pair could easily percieve the seconds, little more than a minute, before they were back in a universe, complete with its own form.  
****  
  
"Ranma, where in hell are we?" Nabiki asked grumpily. They were slogging through ankle deep mud and being jostled by sharp gusts of wind. At least a minor water elemental was keeping the water off of them.  
  
Ranma surveyed the mountains around them and shook his head slowly."I have no clue."  
  
"Ranma, this had better be earth or I'm gonna find the biggest, meanest demon in hell, and turn him loose on you," Nabiki growled only half playfully.  
  
"Unless one of us isn't from earth originally, we're at the right place. I guess the sword didn't know where to go on earth. We're lucky it didn't bring us through to the bottom of an ocean somewhere."  
  
Nabiki felt the mental rush that signalled a telepathic communication from her newly summoned elemental. There was a settlement of some kind up ahead. She expressed her gratitude by feeding the elemental a bit more mana than it required, raising it's status and power slightly. She decided that she would keep the elemental. It adapted well and accepted instructions as readily as Char. With a little nurturing and some mana infusions, it would also be a worthy ally in a fight."Ranma, there's a city not too far from here."  
  
Ranma smiled cockily and asked,"Next time you'll trust me, eh?"  
  
Nabiki poked Ranma in the ribs."Don't even try to pretend like you had this planned."  
  
He shrugged."I can't help it, I'm just good, even when I don't try."  
  
That earned him a pinch."Whatever, Ranma, let's just go find a nice dry place to spend the night."  
  
Ranma didn't complain, and they were soon in sight of a large log palisade, presumably containing within it a little piece of civilization.  
  
"Where on earth could we be? How many places are there with mountains like this that has places walled in like that? It's like we've travelled back in time." Nabiki thought that it lookied vaguely like some of the far northern towns of Nox.  
  
"Nah, there are still places like this. Pop took me to some of them in the mountains of Japan when I was a kid. We went to China once, but I was too young to remember much. I do remember a small village with a wall though."  
  
"You're the expert. Until we got stuck on Nox, my idea of roughing it was sleeping outside with Akane when we were kids."  
  
They continued on there course through the soggy grass and intermitent mud puddles, until the large iron bound log gates stood looming above them.  
  
"Should we knock?" Ranma asked.  
  
"In this weather I doubt that they have anybody manning the gate, but it's worth a try. Maybe a shout would be better than a knock though," Nabiki suggested.  
  
Ranma cupped his hands around his mouth and was about to announce their prescence, when with a shout, dozens of shrouded forms rose up from the mud. Ranma and Nabiki were surrounded by an inverted wall of pikes and swords. How they had remained hidden from both Ranma's and Nabiki's supernatural senses, no one knew.  
  
"Oh this is just great," Nabiki sighed.  
  
"Do you want to fight our way out or see what they have to say?" Ranma asked Nabiki. If it had been him alone, he would have fought his way to freedom, but with Nabiki also in danger, he hesitated, not willing to risk her life.  
  
"Set a teleport marker as far from here as you can and if things go sour, we can just slip out quietly."  
  
Ranma invoked the spell that would set a beacon for him to follow in the event that they had to make a quick escape, heedless of the numerous razor sharp blades threatening him as he spoke the proper words and made the proper hand motions to shape the spell."Okay, it's set."  
  
"Well then, I guess we should surrender now." Nabiki held her hands over her head, followed by Ranma a monent later. From the angry muttering of their 'captors', it was obvious that they were indeed in China, but the weapons were primitive by modern standards. It was like they had found a little piece of Nox on earth.  
  
A young girl, with limp, rain soaked purple hair, shouted something towards the wall and with suprising speed, the gate swung inward. The couple allowed themselves to be herded into the village. The place was spacious and had a homey air to it, even though it appeared just as drenched as the outside world. The laughter of children could be heard in the distance as they played in the rain.  
  
"They sure are aggressive," Ranma commented,"but the place doesn't seem all that warlike. That wall wouldn't really hold up against a determined attack and that's going by Nox standards. Modern weapons would smash this place in a minute."  
  
"I'm suprised that the Chinese government would allow them even that much freedom," Nabiki said."But with the mountains closing the whole valley in, they probably don't feel that it would be worth the trouble."  
  
"The wall must be for defense against whoever else lives in the valley."   
  
They continued walking down the streets, led by their armed escort until Nabiki shouted,"Ow!" and rubbed at the back of her leg where the same purple-haired girl had jabbed her with the point of her spear. Through Nabiki's pant's leg a bright blossom of blood bloomed and began to slowly spread.  
  
Ranma growled and made a move towards the sneering girl, but instantly he was surrounded by a dozen laughing women, all threatening him and Nabiki with their weapons.  
  
"Fuck this!" Ranma shouted, calling the Staff of Oblivion to his hand. It's wicked blade crackled visibly with electricity. It had happened so quickly and was in of itself such a suprising demonstration that none of the women reacted in time to stop Ranma from sweeping the staff in a vicious arc that disarmed the six women between him and Nabiki. All the women collapsed to the ground convulsing as the electrical energy coursed through their bodies.  
  
"Ranma, maybe you're overreacting," Nabiki said, even as her black force bow appeared in her hand."She might have slipped in the mud."  
  
Wary of their companions' plight, the other women drew up in a loose circle around Ranma and Nabiki.  
  
"Oh please!" Ranma scoffed."You saw her face. The little bitch did it on purpose, and now I'm gonna make her regret it, but first..." Ranma cupped the wound on Nabiki's leg with his hand and cast a minor healing spell on it."There, now let's show them why no one that messes with us lives to regret it."  
  
Grateful that the pain from her wound was gone, and slightly angry at herself for not healing the wound on her own, Nabikiraised her bow and pulled back on the glowing strand of energy that appeared. The bolt of energy that she fired took one of the women in the chest, knocking her to the ground with a bloody hole above her breast. With one hand still holding the bow, she called forth a half dozen pixies that flew out in a swarm, joining in with a like number of magic missles sent forth by Ranma.  
  
A dozen women died screaming as the sorcerous pixies and homing missles struck true. Many of them died on contact, but a few of the tougher ones fell to the earth shrieking in pain as they burned alive, heedless of the rain falling around them. Now less than ten remained.  
  
Ranma cleaved through the sword of one brave woman as she sought to take him from behind. The Staff of Oblivion sunk into her flesh easily, and passed cleanly from her shoulder to her hip. Two pieces of ruined gore remained, though no blood was spilt thanks to the cauterizing effect of the electricity generated by the staff. The clawed butt of the staff crushed an unfortunate throat, turning it's owner into a gurgling wretch, choking on her own blood.  
  
Swept up in the carnage, Nabiki raised an ember demon just for the hell of it and signalled to Ranma with a whistle to stop his attack. The demon hurled two fiery balls of magma, each one exploding against a different target, killing them instantly. With a sound like the furnaces of hell, the demon cackled with glee as it advanced on the frightened girl who had instigated the assault in the first place. Even as steam partially enshrouded its form from the water that fell over its superheated surface, claws of jagged obsidian could be seen extending from its rough fingers.  
  
Less than three feet from its cringing target, the demon screeched in triumph, but a blast of blazing blue energy, not unlike a magic missle but of some energy other than fire, since fire had no effect on ember demons, struck it in the head. The demon's head, only a chunk of half melted rock, but containing within it the life-force of the demon, exploded into a fine powder. Instantly all heat left it's small form and to the ground fell a loose correction of sooty black rocks.  
  
Other people were approaching now, drawn by the screams of the dying. All were armed. A squat, glowing form, the obvious slayer of the demon, hopped into view upon a gnarled wooden staff. If Ranma hadn't known better, he would have thought they were dealing with one of those little urchin shamans that Nabiki used to hunt rats in the Castle's cellar.  
  
"Not that I'm worried about our chances, Ranma, but now might be a good time to scoot," Nabiki said. Ranma would probably want to stay for a while now that he knew their attackers to be of little danger to them.  
  
"Not yet. I want to see how proficient a spellcaster that woman is." At least Ranma assumed it was a woman. All the other people they had seen were warriors.  
  
The purple-haired girl ran over to the glowing woman and spoke to her rapidly in Chinese. There was now no less than a hundred of the women warriors surrounding them, but a much greater distance than the corpses that littered the ground.  
  
The little woman on the stick hopped closer, narrowing the distance between herself and the battle ready pair to fifty feet."Why have you committed this crime against my people?" she shouted angrily.  
  
Nabiki assumed that their appearance was enough cause for the woman to assume they were Japanese, despite Ranma's choice of apparel.  
  
Ranma let his grip on the Staff of Oblivion loosen. The staff fell from his hand and disappeared into subspace. To Nabiki is was a signal that Ranma was ready to do some serious spell casting. She readied herself to summon another pixie swarm and maybe a demon lord."We just wanted someplace warm to stay for the night," Ranma stated loudly,"but the little girl with purple hair injured my wife without cause. That wasn't very smart of her, especially since she did it to 'my' wife! It's her fault that your people lay dead at our feet!"  
  
"Be that as it may, you and your wife have taken the lives of many amazons. For that you must be punished!" From the woman's withered hand, another radiant blast of blue energy exploded towards Ranma and Nabiki.  
  
With a whispered word and a wave of his hand, Ranma stopped the spell's forward momentum completely and sent it hurtling back at its source.  
  
The woman barely escaped the explosive blast that threw clods of water logged earth into the air. Still the amazons held their positions around Ranma and Nabiki.  
  
Oh well, at least the day wasn't turning out to be a complete bore. Nabiki brought her enchanted armor from subspace, instantly feeling the revitalizing effects of the regeneration spells placed on each piece of leather and steel. She opted for a different weapon than her bow and sent it back to subspace. She didn't have Ranma's hand to hand abilites, that she knew all too well, but she didn't really need them all that much. With a thought, her new water elemental took a solid form, rising up from the ground beside her. Its form was crystal clear even though the water around it was muddy brown. The old woman wouldn't be destroying this creature, not unless she could cut it off from any sources off water, something rather hard to accomplish when its raining.  
  
The debris settled to the ground and the old women could be seen standing on the edge of the crater created by her own spell. She tore her puzzled eyes from the hole and glared at Ranma."Your power is great, young sorceror, but so is mine!" With that statement came a crackling sound and the woman was surrounded by an aura of energy. Now standing on the ground, her staff made for a more useful tool as a focus for her power.  
  
The scything beam of energy that came at them tore the ground into a earthen trench as it passed, but Ranma was ready. A plane of shimmering silver air appeared in front of him a split second before the beam struck. The force was incredible, driving Ranma back across the mud several feet, prompting Nabiki and her elemental to take a couple of quick steps back. Ranma's shield held up against the beam, though, and with effort, Ranma shifted it slightly to the side. Like a mirror reflecting a beam of light, the shield turned the woman's attack back, destroying several houses and incinerating several unprepared warriors.  
  
"That's it you old hag!" Ranma shouted to the woman. He shouted the invocation of a powerful earth spell and ordered forces with phenomanal speed. A great grinding sound issued forth from the ground and all around Ranma the soil began to quake, undulating in water-like waves. Most of the amazons were unable to keep their footing on the saturated soil and fell to the ground, killing or injuring themselves or others with their weapons as they went down. The primitive bamboo huts that made up the majority of the buildings within the village could not stand against the onslaught and were shaken to pieces.  
  
Even as the shouts and cries of the wounded filled the air, Ranma stared at the woman who had just attacked him and in the process endangered Nabiki. From either hand he shot a ball of liquid flame. The last he saw before teleporting Nabiki, her elemental, and himself to safety was the woman holding her staff in front of herself like a shield.  
  
Nabiki finished the summoning of an aero demon just as she was wisked away by Ranma. The demon would most likely rampage unchecked throgh the village now, and Nabiki couldn't stop or banish it since she had had no time to establish mental contact.  
  
Ranma's marker was a little over a mile from the village."That was a bust," he said, somewhat embarrassed.  
  
"Yeah," Nabiki agreed."We should probably get as far away as we possibly can."  
****  
  
Author's Notes: Can you tell that I don't like the amazons? Hehehe, the dynamic duo now have their first set of powerful enemies upon earth. I wonder who the next ones will be. Maybe I'll put them in the next chapter. Hope you enjoyed the return to earth. C&C me at dark_phoneix@hotmail.com 


	6. A New Life to Live 4

  
  
A New Life to Live: Chapter 4  
  
Seeing as how Ranma had taught himself chaos magic on Nox, it wasn't hard for him to detect the huge amount of chaotic magic radiating from the innocent looking pools of water."Nabiki, whatever you do, don't cast a spell around here," Ranma warned.  
  
"Why not?" Nabiki asked. They were following a fat man who was supposed to be leading them out of the valley.  
  
"This place is saturated with chaos magic. If you cast any spells the chaos energy will try to replace the mana that you lose. I'm not exactly sure what would happen after that, but it would probably be explosive and bloody." He had stopped working with chaos magic once he realized the effects it had on reality, though at first no one could figure out why gravity was weakening or how water could boil at half the usual temperature.  
  
"Okay, just remember to take your own advice. I know how you like to test yourself."  
  
"We here sirs," announced the guide. His home was a little bamboo shack that barely could be classified as that. The fat man swung open the unlatched door and stepped inside, only to return almost immediately, a battered travelling pack thrown over one shoulder.  
  
"What is this place?" Ranma asked.  
  
"Jusenkyo, the ancient springs of woe, honorable sirs. Many tragic tales, many tragic lives," the guide answered as he started leading them away.  
  
"Is there anything special about it?" The place radiated so much chaos magic that there absolutely had to be some noticeable effect, even to untrained people.  
  
(The foloowing is a brief description of Jusenkyo and it's curses and stuff. If you don't know it, then you don't need to be reading Ranma fanfiction.)  
  
Nabiki began to slowly edge herself away from the cursed springs, taking Ranma's hand and pulling him with her.  
  
"Is there a cure for any of the curses?" Ranma asked the guide, who by now was a good distance away thanks to Nabiki's course adjustment.  
  
"Some say using opposite Jusenkyo curse break curse, but never seen happen in entire life."  
  
The rest of the day passed in relative silence, except for idle conversation between the young couple.  
****  
  
Cologne expertly bound Shampoo's broken wrist while simultaneously changing the dressing on the arrow wound she had recieved from the berserk demon. She was pleased to see how the relatively young girl didn't flinch as the bone was properly set. The cries of the more seriously wounded and dying filled the morning air.  
  
The two spell casters had inflicted massive casualties on her people. At least thirty deaths could be attributed to their actions alone. The powerful demon they had left behind had been responsible another twenty four death and eighteen wounded, some of whom were also expected to die. Who were they? Where had they come from? Most importantly of all, though, how had two teenagers, only a few years older than Shampoo, gained such power? Magic was a mostly lost art, but the two teens had practically glowed with it, and they knew how to use their power.  
  
The use of the demon was a clue. It could mean that they were creatures from hell in disguise, simple agents of hell who had been granted power, or least likely of all, just normal children who had stumbled across a cache of ancient knowledge. Happosai could summon some demons occasionally, but he hadn't sold his soul and wasn't a demon, even if he was a perverted old freak. Then there had been the young man's fighting prowess. He had moved with the incredible speed and ease of one who had trained heavily in the martial arts.   
  
The door of the infirmary opened slowly, and the light steps of a warrior moved over to Cologne and Shampoo, neither of which looked up.  
  
"The other elders wish to know what shall be done to bring the attackers to justice," Su Li, the Council's sometimes messager, sometimes enforcer, and permanent boot licker said.  
  
"That should do it, Shampoo," Cologne said, standing up."I'll return to check the dressing in a few hours."  
  
Cologne allowed herself to be escorted to the Council hall, a moderately ornamental building of cut stone that rested in the center of the village. The room was quiet as she entered, with all her fellow elders' eyes trained solely on her.  
  
"How are we going to exact vengenace upon our attackers?" asked one of the elders once Cologne had taken her seat.  
  
"First of all, it should be known that the two youngsters acted in a perfectly peaceful manner until the girl was injured by your great-granddaughter," Ban Tai, Cologne's greatest rival on the Council pointed out.  
  
"Are you saying that the death of nearly sixty amazons should go unpunished?"  
  
Cologne raised her hand, a clear signal for everyone to shut up."Yes, I know that Shampoo's actions may have been the catalyst that brought about the massacre and that the two youngsters may have had no hostile intentions. But we must also consider if they are deserving of punishment." At this announcement, there was an uncharacteristic display of emotion from the ancient women gathered around the table.  
  
Once again Cologne raised her hand and the shouting women all closed their mouths, though nearly all of them glared at their leader."Also, whether they can even be punished needs to be determined. Both the boy and girl displayed phenomanal power, enough to practically ignore my most powerful attacks. We could be talking about divine entities on vacation or just as easily be planning to attack a pair of arch demons. Would that be wise? We have already lost too many people to risk this."  
  
"And how do you propose that we learn what they are?"  
  
"How were we going to find them?" Cologne asked with a small smile.  
  
"We planned to scry for them, of course," answered another elder almost before Cologne's question had died on her lips.  
  
"I assume that everyone knows just how much effort will be required to conceal our attempts from them? If not, everyone can be assured that we will ne to be as cautious as if we were observing Saffron himself."  
  
The room filled with angry mutters and resigned sighs because of Cologne's announcement. They all had known what would be required of them, but hearing it from the oldest of the old just confirmed what they dreaded.  
****  
  
It had been suprisingly easy to convert diamonds into both Chinese and Japanese currency. Well, it had been for Nabiki. Ranma didn't know what he would have done he she weren't there. How did she know where to sale them? More importantly, how did Nabiki, who had left earth at the age of fifteen, know how to get false passports and travel papers in a seedy little Chinese port with a name that Ranma couldn't even pronounce? When Ranma voiced his amazement, his young wife grinned at him and said,"A couple of years before we went to Nox, I decided that I wanted to be a spy like on the tv. I spent almost an entire year reading cheesy spy novels and watching the television equivalent. I still can't believe that any of it was remotely useful."  
  
Ranma shrugged."I'm not complaining. I wish you had gotten us on a better ship though. We do have a lot of yen and it wouldn't have hurt to have a bigger bed."  
  
"Ranma, if we started throwing money around don't think that someone would notice? Our passports aren't real you know. If some nobody government official decides to assert himself and check us out, we would probably end up fighting our way back to Japan."  
  
Ranma looked around their tiny, dim, cubicle-like room that had no windows and only a single narrow cot and said,"Char had a bigger house than this when he was still a puppy. And his bed was a lot softer."  
  
Nabiki mock growled and pushed Ranma down onto the bed."One way or antoher, I'm going to make you stop complaining all the way back to Japan."  
****  
  
Genma drug his mourning friend to the dinner table just in time to see Akane lay a steaming platter of...something on it. Without speaking, Genma stood up and threw Soun over his shoulder and slowly carried him back to the parlor. He wished Kasumi didn't have so much school work to do this week. She sure was a good cook. Akane on the other hand...  
Genma shuddered and laid his unblinking friend on a cushion. Neither of the men could take another food poisoning.  
  
Oh how had everything gone so very very wrong? He had been having a friendly game of catch and pummel with his son, an exercise almost as fun as eating, when the foolish boy had tried to save a girl involved in an auto accident. But he himself had witnessed, from across the street, the explosion that had engulfed Ranma and the unfortuante girl. Genma had been crushed. Fourteen years of his life were gone. His son was gone. Nodoka was going to fillet him.  
  
Genma was certain he had gone to hell. But it only got worse. The authorities couldn't even find any remains of his son to be honored. In despair he had stumbled to his friend Soun's home, only to discover that his daughter Nabiki had just been lost in an auto accident. Genma put two and two together and that's when reality itself seemed to collapse around his ears. Not only was his son gone, and with him any chance of uniting the schools, much less carrying on the Saotome branch of anything goes, but his only friend in the whole world had turned into a zombie.  
  
The loss of Nabiki, combined with the loss of his wife and all hopes of his and Genma's glorious dream being fulfilled was just too much for Soun. He could no longer function.  
  
With a sigh, Genma set up the shogi board between himself and Soun, and began playing against himself imagining all of Soun's most devastating cheating techniques and carrying them out against his side. After a few minutes he sighed again and gave up. It just wasn't the same. Maybe he should just call Nodoka and get it over with.  
****  
  
Ranma only vaguely recognized Nerima as he and Nabiki walked down the sidewalk. Nabiki on the other hand had spent most of her life in the ward and recognition came to her easily."It all looks exactly the same," she said, her voice betraying her suprise.  
  
"It's only been a little over three years, Nabiki," Ranma commented."How mush could it have changed?"  
  
Nabiki blushed at how easily she had let that little fact slip by her."I guess you're right, but I mean it really feels like nothing has changed."  
  
"Maybe nothing has changed. What if we get to your house and no time has gone by at all? Heh, that would make you the oldest sister."  
  
Nabiki shivered and smiled."That would be weird. It really would be good though. That way no one would have had time to grieve for me. Dad always has been emotional, I'd hate to see what my death would do to him."  
  
As they walked, Ranma tried to imagine what his father had done when he had travelled to Nox. Probably just find another kid to train.  
  
"Oh shit!" Nabiki exclaimed, drawing Ranma out of his thoughts.  
  
"What?" Ranma asked. He looked to Nabiki. She was holding a newspaper in her hands and trembling slightly. He absentmindedly passed the man at the newstand a five hundred yen bill and led Nabiki away without bothering to collect his change."You okay, Nabiki?"  
  
Shakily, Nabiki turned the paper and pointed to the upper left hand corner. It read Tokyo Times, April 22, 2001. Ranma had never really paid attention to the specific date when he and his father travelled, but he knew the year that he and Nabiki left earth was 2001."I guess that not too much time has gone by afterall." And as he said it, Ranma thought over the revelation. It had not been spring for too long in Japan when Ranma and Nabiki found themselves on Nox. April was definitely early spring. Oh shit was right! They hadn't been gone from earth for more than a few weeks, but more than three years had passed on Nox. At least they didn't have to worry about anyone bothering the Castly while they were away.  
  
"We really have travelled through time," Nabiki said."This is more than I could have hoped for, Ranma!" She jumped up and gave him a quick, but passionate kiss-hug combination."We can make sure that everyone knows we're okay!"  
  
Ranma went along with Nabiki. She had a loving, normal family to think about. He had the Oyaji. If the bastard found him, chances were that he would try to make him leave Nabiki and be his student once again. Ranma smiled in grim anticipation of that. Besides learning magic, he had devoted a considerable amount of time to improving his martial skills on Nox. Nabiki had been pretty helpful with that, since she could call up an infinite and varied number of powerful sparring partners.  
  
Nabiki grabbed Ranma around the shoulders and jumped into arms that automatically reached out to hold her."To the rooftops!" she exclaimed happily."I'll give you directions as we go,"  
  
Oh well, it could be worse. Ranma smiled down at Nabiki and leapt to the top of a two story gourmet grocery.  
****  
  
"Kiyah!" Akane shouted, murdering another brick. Angrily, she wiped her eyes. It was just dust from the crushed concrete. She wasn't crying!  
  
In short order, three dozen innocent concrete bricks met their maker. It wasn't fair! First her mother dies, leaving them all alone with a mostly useless wreck of a father. Then Nabiki dies, leaving Akane and Kasumi with a completely useless father and one fat slob that eats more than everyone else combined. At least the man was taking care of her father. Maybe she could get him to train her some.  
  
"Akane," Kasumi said from the entrance to the dojo,"could you make a quick trip to the market? I need some more cabbage and a new bottle of soy sauce."  
  
Akane stood up, wiping dust from her eyes."Sure Kasumi, just let me get cleaned up a bit."  
****  
  
"Okay Ranma, set us down here. My house is just across the street," Nabiki said to Ranma as he leapt across the rooftops of Nerima.  
  
"Woah, nice place!" Ranma exclaimed when he saw the Tendo Home and the connecting dojo from the air. Even he knew that that much property in Tokyo was expensive.  
  
Nabiki liked the Castle better, but her old childhood home was a pretty comfortable place."It's not bad."  
  
They walked across the street in the normal, non-superhuman way and were soon standing within the compound itself, at the door to the house."What if they don't recognize you? You have filled out quite a bit since we got to Nox."  
  
"I don't look that much different." Nabiki swept her shoulder length brown hair back."They are my 'family' Ranma, they'll recognize me."  
  
"I suppose so. Pop would probably recognize me too." A minute passed and Ranma asked,"We just going to stand here?"  
  
Nabiki chuckled and opened the door."I am a little nervous."  
  
Ranma followed Nabiki into the foyer and from there into main house.  
  
"Yes, can I help you?" a girl Nabiki recognized as Kasumi asked. It was amazing how her big sister was now shorter than her and looked much less mature than she once had. Before Nabiki or Ranma could say anything, though, Kasumi gasped and dropped the laundry basket she had been carrying."Nabiki?" she asked a moment before fainting.  
  
Ranma rushed forward and caught Kasumi before she could hit the hard floor."From your description I'd guess that this is Kasumi?"  
  
Nabiki nodded and said,"Follow me." She led Ranma up to Kasumi's room where they deposited the overwhelmed girl in her bed.  
  
"I wonder if that's how they'll all react."  
  
Nabiki grinned and said,"Just wait until you see Dad. He's liable to have a stroke."  
  
Ranma briefly wondered if magic could heal the brain damamge associated with a stroke. Probably. There was one way to find out."Shall we?" Ranma offered Nabiki his arm and a grin.  
  
Nabiki entwined her arm with Ranma's and together they walked back downstairs.  
****  
  
It wasn't too hard to find Soun. His almost constant blubbering lead the pair straight to the parlor. Nabiki was embarassed for Ranma to see her father actiong like a baby, but then she heard Ranma gasp and say,"Pop?"  
  
The fat man in a white gi looked up, along with her father and both of them turned deathly pale in an instant, then their eyes got fairly close to saucer size, then their mouths fell open. Unable to process the information their brains were recieving, Soun and Genma fell backwards like dead trees, their heads impacting with a THUMP on the wooden floor.  
  
"I told you they would recognize me," Nabiki pointed out.  
  
Ranma nodded and asked,"What in hell is my father doing here?"  
  
"Our families are the only two that practice anything goes, so it isn't too hard to believe that they would know each other."  
****  
  
Akane walked into the house warily, a bottle of soy sauce held in one hand like a club. The front door had been left slightly ajar. Kasumi would never have done that. Adding to her fears was a basket of overturned laundry in the middle of the hallway. Oh no! Someone had broken in and killed her family!  
  
Akane ran down the hallway and into the parlor where her father and his friend Genma spent most of their time. Sure enough, there were two people bent over the two men, both of whom were dead.  
  
With an inarticualte roar of rage and grief, Akane threw herself across the room and prepared to take vengeance.  
****  
  
Author's Notes: Yeah, pretty short chapter, I know, but it was a good place to end it. Took a short break from writing(only 5 days) and got a lot of sleep and read a few books. I should be studying for final exams but I already know that I'm gonna fail two classes and the others are nothing to woryy about, so no worries. I've been getting a lot of email lately and it's really hard to respond to them all, so I'm gonna try to answer a couple of the major questions now.  
  
1. Sorry, I don't have my own webpage, a problem I hope to alleviate some time in the next couple months if my parents don't kill me for how bad I've done this semester.  
  
2. I don't use prereaders. Not that I wouldn't appreciate the effort, but I post my fics almost as soon as I finish typing them.  
  
3. And yes, Ranma and Setsuna are gonna hook up in Child of Light Born of Darkness.  
  
As always, C&C welcome at dark_phoneix@hotmail.com 


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